How to use burst mode camera to capture all the action with your iPhone or iPad

The Camera app on your iPhone makes it easy to take photos. But what if things are moving? Jumping, blinking, dancing, fidgeting, flipping? Not only do you have to worry about avoiding motion blur, you want to make sure you capture the action at just the right moment — the high point of the slam dunk, the fullness of the splash, the cross-of the finish line, the impact of the moment. With the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPad Air 2, there's burst mode for that!

How to use burst mode

In photo mode, hold down on the shutter button to capture 10 frames per second.

Release the shutter button when you're done capturing.

Switch to the Photos app by tapping the photo thumbnail at the bottom left while in the Camera app — or by clicking the Home button and launching the Photos app manually.

Tap on the burst mode stack you want to view — photos captured in burst mode appear as stacks in the Photos app.

Tap on Select... at the bottom.

Scroll through all the photos that burst mode captured and tap the blue checkmark on each photo you'd like to keep.

Tap on Done in the upper right hand corner when you've checked the ones you'd like to keep.

Tap Keep Everything if you want to keep all the photos in your burst (in case you want to change your mind later) or tap Keep Only [number] Favorites to trash the photos you didn't pick and keep only the ones you did (if you're sure).

Notice that some photos in burst mode stacks have grey dots underneath them. Your iPhone or iPad will automatically choose what photos it thinks are the best out of that burst. This makes it easy to find the ones that may have the least amount of motion blur. In my experience it's normally pretty accurate. But of course, it's completely up to you to decide which ones your want to keep.

How to capture burst photos with older iPhones

Even though other iPhones and iPads can't do the fancy burst mode — they don't have Apple A7 processors — they can still take multiple, sequential shots. They just won't automatically stack and select the best ones for you.

To take sequential photos on older iPhones:

Launch the Camera app on your iPhone 5s.

In photo mode, hold down on the shutter button to capture multiple photos, one after the other.

Release the shutter button when you're done capturing.

Switch to the Photos app by tapping the photo thumbnail at the bottom left, or by clicking the Home button and returning to the Home screen first.

Go through and delete the photos you don't want to keep.

Better burst-mode alternatives for older iPhones

There are some camera apps in the App Store that, in addition to offering more or different features, also bring better burst mode to older iPhones: